And of course, adjusting the wrong frequencies can make an instrument shrill, muddy, or just downright annoying. You can add clarity and fullness to any instrument in a mix by attenuating (cutting) or boosting certain frequencies. “Playing” applies to engineers as well as musicians. The best EQ tricks were found by mad scientists of sound. Sometimes that EQ setting you’ve been working on for 15 minutes is not the right choice, so move on. Comparing a flat EQ and the curve that you’ve created allows you to see exactly what you’ve done.

Your memory is not what you think it is.

If you are working particularly hard on one instrument, your ears will be quite literally numbed to that frequency range. Your ears get fatigued just like the rest of you.

Your goal is not individual perfection, it is collective perfection in the mix. If every instrument is EQ’d to have the same effect, it will lose its identity in the mix. Not every instrument can or should have a full, rich low end and a sharp attack. Your mix will have better separation and more clarity when each instrument’s EQ is set so that it shines through the mix. Taking your time with equalization is well worth the effort. Once you are satisfied with your kick drum, mute it, and move on to the next instrument. It is not uncommon to hear an annoying ringing or a ‘“twang’” somewhere mixed in with your amazing-sounding low end and perfect attack, so your next task will be to find that offending frequency and notch it out.

Tune in the best-sounding low end and move on to the attack. Each instrument resonates the most in a specific frequency bandwidth, so if you are working on your kick drum mic, start with the lowest band of the EQ. Most engineers start building their mix with the drums and work from the bottom up (kick, snare, toms, hi-hat, overheads). So how do you find the best and worst each instrument has to offer and adjust them accordingly?įirst, solo just the instrument with which you are working. An EQ allows you to sculpt the sound of any instrument so that it stands out in the mix.

Best equalizer settings